Friday, June 26, 2009
What's New
Hey Everyone, I know I haven't been gone all that long but here is another update. It has been nearly 2 weeks now and I am doing great. The first week was somewhat difficult getting settled but now I feel very at home. I am also sleeping through the night which is a very big plus. I have started teaching guitar lessons to several of the older kids in the Jonathan Family (the family group of Ugandans that I am connected with). Wilber and Mwanje are catching on quickly. They are excited to learn and I am excited to teach them. What they learn they will be passing on to some of the younger kids in the family. I will start teaching the foreign staff kids this coming monday. Then I will have a definite routine which will help. (These are the missionary kids). Please pray that God gives me wisdom in how to meet all of their needs. A team from Colorado Springs has been here the last 2 weeks. It has been nice hanging out with them. They definitely helped me get through some of my homesickness - and yes I know I haven't been here that long but alas I was still a little homesick. They conducted a Vacation Bible School for the students here at New Hope and for Kids in a school in the village. I joined them as a helper. It was so amazing and tiring as well. I am just taking the weekend easy so I can get ready for teaching next week. During the VBS around 240 kids gave their lives to Christ - Yeah. God is so good. Going out to the village was so eye opening. Here at New Hope the Kids have so much compared to the kids in the village yet compared to us in the west they still have very little. I will send photos in a future update so you can see the incredible difference. In the village they have a stick and and mud building with two 'rooms' in it. They have 180 students, logs with boards across them to sit on for desks and a few very old chalk boards. I don't know how the teachers do it and how the students learn. This school needs only $26,000 dollars a year to run. That pays for 7 teachers, the head master, and all the supplies for the students. That's less that one teacher makes in the states. I was shocked. The team that was here really feels lead to poor into the school. 2 years ago they laid the foundation for a brick school building. When they came back this year nothing has been added. They were saddened - they had hoped others would continue what they had begun. Anyway - being a new hope is amazing. I feel very blessed to be in a christian environment where kids have family devotions every night and God is constantly the topic of conversation. I know I am going to learn and grow so much this year. My Room mate Cody is great. We get along well. It's tight quarters for us but we are making it work. We live in a two room brick hut - it has a living room area and 1 bedroom. So far so good - and he doesn't really snore so that is a major plus. We have a shower room - for bucket showers - and a pit latrine - I'm getting used to it. I may join the worship team here at New Hope. Several of the members have asked me to join. They practice on Saturdays so I'm going to stop by today and see how I could be of help. I only want to join if it is God's will. Well that's it for now. Thank you so much for your prayers and love. I wouldn't be here if it weren't for God and all of you. Love, Josh Prayer - *Please pray for wisdom in teaching the foreign staff kids. *For health - against malaria and fatigue and stomach issues. *For energy. *For direction in exactly what areas to get involved in so I don't overextend myself. *Wisdom for mentoring some of the boys in Jonathan Family. *Language Barrier - even though English is the national language not all of the kids feel comfortable talking in English so the conversations are very shallow. They also talk to one another in Luganda so it feel isolating at times.
Monday, May 25, 2009
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
